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  • Why are there so many Rogue-likes ? and should I think about making one ?

I've been diving deep into the world of indie games and indie game Dev in general lately, and honestly it's impossible to avoid the Rogue-like sub-genre, there's just so many of them ! and they come in all shapes, sizes and colors, from your typical dungeon crawlers to more creative takes like a freaking poker Rogue-like (balatro) or even a painting Rogue-like (Antipaint), there's dozens upon dozens of Rogue-like Dev logs on YouTube, so it just leaves me wondering...why is there an insane amount of them and why do so many people still make them despite their overabundance ?

I mean is it even a good idea ? Steam has exactly 5846 games tagged as "Rogue-like", so why do so many Devs choose to compete in such a crowded market ? there's so many other genres out there, and yet for some reason people always develop for this one genre (and I guess the Metroidvania genre hehe but that needs it's own post)

are these games just easier and faster to make ? is procedural generation just better for smaller limited budget games ,so the developers could just make less content and let the random nature of the game create more playtime out of the little amount of content ? or does it have nothing to do with efficiency and game Devs just really can't get enough of Rogue-likes XD

and should I consider making one in the future ? I'll either ride the wave of popularity and make a neat twist on the genre, or I'll drown in the ocean with the other 5000 or so Devs who's Roguelike games just weren't unique or solid enough

sorry if it feels like I'm taking a jab at Rogue-like developers, I actually enjoy watching their Dev-logs on YouTube, and also playing Demos of their game if available

i've had several ideas:

  • the top indie games of all time are disproportionately rogue-likes, so the precedent is there:
    roguelike == payday.
  • the genre allows plenty of room for creativity and almost never require a large team or an especially skilled programmer. it's not hard for an artsy hobbyist to get a funny idea and sit down for a few months to crank out a new game.
  • the inherent replayability gives the player a large return from the relatively low cost of labor on your part and (usuallu) low price tag on the game that comes with it.
  • people like rogue-likes, including developers.

Im kinda tired from rouglike type games, you pretty much get the same experience, and no new emotions. Run, gun, gain.. Skins change, abilities change, but gameplay stays the same.

IDk why people make them. Imguessing they want money..

Imo the ones that are popular are either because they were featured by some popular streamer or either very well advertised. Also what i notice, you should definately post previews leading up to release. Bi weekly previews do more good than just a release.

That game that god banned from steam - dungeon crawler survivor type thing battle royale or whatever i forgot the name, was something interesting and i was looking forward to but, its gone from steam..

I look forward to games i can play with someone, single player games seems boring, working together for common goal is much more rewarding.

If it sells well, it's money in your Paypal account!

And if you have the skills to make it, by all means go for it.

I think I borrow this thread. I wanted to make a 3D multiplayer game but for obvious reasons, it is something I can't do myself, without a huge amount of time and determination. So I reduced the scope to 2D, the thing is we are pretty much limited there. It is either top-down game or some kind of platformer.

Of course, puzzles, board games, and stuff work too, but eh it's hard to get ideas for them. I was thinking of some kind of puzzle tower defense that focuses on planning, resource management, and incremental building with no game over state. However, it is really hard to get those concepts into a game that makes sense.

So I landed in a top-down-traveling game with turn-based battles. I want the battle part to be somewhat board game-like where you move on a grid, possibly a hexagon grid or some kind of node system where the position is as important as skill usage. However, after reading this thread, it appears that a top-down game is rather popular, isn't it? So it is difficult to stand out in the crowd?